Local Sports

Repeat performances in Litchfield For 2nd time, both winners win again (with video report) By Joe PalladinoRepublican-American

LITCHFIELD -- They came, they saw, they conquered, again. For Eliud Ngetich of Kenya and Harlem, N.Y., and Esther Erb of New Jersey, it was a tougher race this time around.

Ngetich, 20, already the youngest ever Litchfield Hills Road Race champion, successfully defended his title in the 38th running of the race Sunday with a time of 34:40 over 7.1 miles. That was just five seconds ahead of Allele Megersa of Ethiopia.

Ngetich won the race as a 19-year-old teenager in 2013. It was a lot easier when he was younger.

Erb, 28, had a tougher race as well. The Virginia native won in 40:26, and that was not far in front of Stephanie Pezzullo of North Carolina, who finished in 40:43. It was Erb's first win ever, in any competition, over Pezzullo.

For the second time in 38 years at Litchfield, the male and female champions were both defending champions. The first was 1977 and 1978,

See REPEAT, Page 12B

the first two LHRR races, with Bill Rodgers and Marti Newell.

The Litchfield course is a sprint for the elite runners. But on Sunday, on beautiful, gorgeous, summer-is-busting-out-all-over Sunday, the temperature reached a glorious 81 degrees. Glorious, that is, if you are sitting on a chair on the green under a tree.

It was not so glorious if you raced.

Ngetich won the 2013 race in an all-out sprint. He bolted off the start line like a cannon shot and he ran a top-10 time. He looked prepared to do that again.

Then he changed his mind.

"I ran the first mile at the pace of 4:16," Ngetich said, "but those guys were right behind me, so I had to fall back. I said, 'yeah, it was going to be tight today,' so after that I had to run a tactical race."

Tactical means smart, and with a marathon just two weeks ahead on his schedule, the Grandma's Marathon in Minnesota, smart is good. He ran third at Grandma's in 2013, in 2:11:59, his best ever marathon time.

Litchfield, Ngetich thought, was a good-luck charm. That's one reason why he returned.

But this Litchfield was not another walk in White Woods.

For most of the race, a pack of five runners stayed on Ngetich's heels. The primary threat was Megersa, 26, who also races out of New York.

Ngetich and Megersa exchanged the lead a few times. Megersa was running hurt. He strained his right hamstring Sunday in the first mile. With translation help from other runners, Megersa said that the hamstring hurt the most on one part of the course.

"The hill. The hill," he said.

Hill? What hill? Oh THAT hill, Gallows Lane.

Ngetich did not know about the injury. He didn't need the information. He had a plan. Get to the last mile and then go. Ngetich made his move on that terrible, awful, brutal hill, the one with the perfect name.

Last year, Ngetich said he tried to make "a constant pace. But this year, I slowed the pace."

Ngetich won it on Gallows. He said last year that he liked the hill. When reminded of that Sunday, he smiled. It was not as much fun this year.

"Yeah, I like it," he said. "It is challenging. Today, I had to save energy for the hill. I knew this guy. I know his running. I know he's strong. Even with the pace high he would stick to me, so I had to wait to the last minute, the last mile."

The run up Gallows Lane, and its 9-degree killer grade, begins at the start of mile six. Ngetich knows this course. He knows that hill. He made his move at the spot where he thought his opponent couldn't follow.

He was right.

Ngetich ran Litchfield in the heat at a 4:53 mile pace. Megersa was a lot slower. He ran at 4:54.

That about sums up this duel.

Ngetich is now the fourth man to win consecutive Litchfield races.

"I feel so happy," said the personable Ngetich. "Nothing makes me feel more good than to defend my title."

And for all future Litchfield hopefuls, you might want to know: Ngetich loves this race. He said he will be back.

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